Crockpot Cheddar and Bacon Potato Soup
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Filled with hearty veggies, bacon, cheddar cheese and more, our Cheddar and Bacon Crockpot Potato Soup is creamy, decadent, and filled with flavor. Bonus: your home will smell cozy and delicious, too!
Or try our Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup.
This post is created in partnership with Hy-Vee Columbia.
About This Recipe
We play favorites around here–and this is one of our top comfort food soups on Thriving Home. It slow cooks all day and makes the perfect game day food, Fall Potluck Dish, or even Christmas Dinner.
We have tested freezing it after cooking, and it thaws and rewarms just fine. So double and freeze half of this recipe, so you can enjoy it again soon.
P.S. If you like this one, you’ll also love our Autumn Chowder and Cheeseburger Soup. Promise.
Ingredients Needed
Ingredient Notes
You’ll find all these wholesome ingredients at your local Hy-Vee (Columbia).
- Bacon – Uncured bacon is the healthiest option. Be sure the bacon is NOT thick cut. Otherwise cooking time will take longer.
- Diced onions, carrots, and celery – You’ll start with the traditional triumvirate of French aromatics referred to as mirepoix (pronounced: meer-pwah). Chop these into evenly-sized, bite-sized pieces.
- Yukon gold potatoes – We use this creamy variety of potatoes to save time because they don’t require peeling!
- Shredded cheddar cheese – Use finely shredded cheddar (Kraft brand works well) or grate your own cheese to avoid the additives.
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How to Make Crockpot Potato Soup
Here’s a bird’s eye view of how to make this soup. Find the full printable recipe at the bottom of this page.
Saute Bacon and Veggies
Start by frying the bacon pieces, remove them to drain, and leave behind some of the bacon grease (hello, flavor town!).
Then, you’ll saute the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in that bacon grease. My friends, this is pure soup-making magic. Your entire pot of soup will be infused with the three “S”es of bacon: Savoriness, Saltiness, and Smokiness.
Add Ingredients and Cook
Place your bacon-infused cooked veggies in a 6 quart slow cooker and add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours, until potatoes are very tender.
Finish and Serve
Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the half and half. Then, stir in the sour cream. Now stir in the cheese a little at a time until it’s melted and well combined.
Finally, you’re going to add an ingredient that might surprise you. I want you to stir in a little white wine vinegar (optional but totally recommended!).
While developing this recipe, I felt like it it needed some sort of acid to cut through the richness. White wine vinegar is always in my cabinet, and I found that just two teaspoons at the end really enhanced the soup flavor!
Serve bowls of soup with the cooked, crumbled bacon and green onions or chives on top.
Can I Freeze Potato Soup?
Yes! This soup is absolutely freezer-friendly! You have two options for freezing it and both work well.
Tip: Feel free to double the batch if you have a 5- or 6-quart crock pot, since doubling is a great use of your time and the bigger batch will cook at the same rate as the recipe indicates.
Freeze for Later:
Method 1 (Uncooked): Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Place cooked and cooled veggies, broth, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and potatoes in a gallon-sized freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze. (Note: Make sure the potatoes are completely submerged in the liquid to avoid browning.) Package up the cheese in a quart-sized freezer bag and freeze along with the soup. Do not freeze the half and half, as you will add this as a fresh ingredients at the end.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): Fully cook the soup through step 5 and let it cool. Place the soup in 1 or 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or containers and seal. Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Freeze together as a kit.
Prepare From Frozen:
Method 1 (Uncooked): (Note: You will need sour cream, half and half, and green onions to make this recipe.) Thaw. Follow instructions beginning with Step 2.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): (Note: You will need the sliced green onions on hand.) Thaw using one of these safe methods. Warm over low heat in the slow cooker or on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Follow step 6 for serving.
What to Serve with Potato Soup
All you need to complete this veggie-rich, cozy soup is some kind of bread and a great salad. Here are a few ideas…
Extra Benefit: Sneaky Nutrition for Picky Kids
We have to mention one more surprising advantage of this delicious soup. It’s actually laden with vegetables–onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, green onions, and garlic. My often picky children gobble this soup up and ask for more. So, I’ve found it to be a secret weapon for adding in more nutrition. It really is a kid-favorite and adult-favorite meal.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! It is naturally gluten-free.
All you have to do is skip the step of adding half and half, sour cream, and cheddar cheese at the end. I tested this dairy-free version during development and can highly recommend it! Because the broth is so flavorful thanks to the aromatics and bacon, this Potato Soup can really stand on it’s own without the dairy.
We have SO many to choose from in this roundup of 20+ Crockpot Freezer Meals. Make sure to hop over and browse around.
We will go on record saying that the half and half makes this soup what it is. It just wasn’t the same when we tested it with milk. Note: it may seem thin at first, but the soup will thicken up significantly as it sits. Trust us.
I tested this a LOT and felt like it was delicious but maybe a little flat…especially the longer you ate it. So I stirred in just a small amount of white wine vinegar to the soup at the very end. The minuscule amount of acid make the flavors pop, tones down the saltiness, and makes the soup taste less heavy. It’s an amazing ingredient that I hope you don’t skip.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Crockpot Potato Soup
This decadent, comforting crockpot potato soup with cheddar and bacon makes your home smell amazing. Serve with a warm loaf of bakery bread for a cozy fall or winter dinner!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup diced carrots (2 medium carrots)
- 1 cup diced celery (2-3 stalks)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups (1/2-inch) diced Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/2-2 pounds; no need to peel)
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken stock (or broth)
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (it’s best if you grate your own cheese)
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (optional, but recommended!)
- Chopped green onions or chives, for serving
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
Make It Now:
- Place bacon in a large skillet, then turn on medium-high heat. Fry the diced bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- Saute the onions, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 30-60 seconds more, making sure it doesn’t burn. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Place cooked veggies in a 6-quart slow cooker and add the potatoes, broth, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours, until potatoes are very tender.
- Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the half and half. Then, stir in the sour cream. Now stir in the cheese a little at a time until it’s melted and well combined. Finally, stir in the white wine vinegar (optional but totally recommended!). Taste and add more salt and pepper, to your preference. The soup will thicken as it sits and cools slightly.
- Serve bowls of soup with the cooked, crumbled bacon and green onions or chives on top.
Freeze for Later:
Method 1 (Uncooked): Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Place cooked and cooled veggies, broth, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and potatoes in a gallon-sized freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze. (Note: Make sure the potatoes are completely submerged in the liquid to avoid browning.) Package up the cheese in a quart-sized freezer bag and freeze along with the soup. Do not freeze the half and half, as you will add this as a fresh ingredients at the end.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): Fully cook the soup through step 5 and let it cool. Place the soup in 1 or 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or containers and seal. Place cooked bacon in a quart-sized freezer bag and seal. Freeze together as a kit.
Prepare From Frozen:
Method 1 (Uncooked): (Note: You will need sour cream, half and half, and green onions to make this recipe.) Thaw. Follow instructions beginning with Step 2.
Method 2 (Fully Cooked): (Note: You will need the sliced green onions on hand.) Thaw using one of these safe methods. Warm over low heat in the slow cooker or on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Follow step 6 for serving.
Notes/Tips
- Note: I repeatedly retested this recipe in November 2024 and made a few small changes which enhanced the original one.
- This soup will thicken as you stir it and then as it sits and cools off.
- I tested stirring the cooked bacon into the soup as it cooks, but I didn’t like the texture in the end. It was chewy and had a weird mouth feel to me. So I prefer just sprinkling it on top at the end.
- If you use russet potatoes instead of Yukon golds, be sure to peel them first.
- Dairy-Free Substitutes: Here’s my best guess as to how to make this DF. Stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/2 cup plain almond milk in place of half and half. Replace the sour cream with Kitehill Dairy-Free Cream Cheese (the plain or chive flavors would work well). Omit the shredded cheddar cheese (I don’t like the dairy-free cheese personally). If you try this, please comment and let me know how it worked!
- While you’re going to the work, I highly suggest doubling this soup. Leftovers are great for days or it works to freeze for later.
- If you’d prefer, you can make this into Stovetop Bacon Cheddar Potato Soup or Instant Pot Potato Soup.
Loved this! I made a regular version and a dairy free by using a protein almond/cashew milk, and just left out the sour cream. We left the cheese off the top and just topped with bacon. Even my potato-soup haters liked this recipe. Thanks!
We love to hear when we win over any haters — even potato soup haters! 🙂 Thanks for leaving a review with specifically how you adapted the recipe to be dairy-free for your people. I’m sure it will give others more confidence in making those alterations.
We enjoyed this recipe, and I love that it was crock pot friendly, so I could go about my day! I noticed when I added the sour cream, it didn’t seem to incorporate well. The flavor was fine but it had that separated look you get when you add milk or cream to a hot dish. Did I go wrong somewhere?
Glad you enjoyed it, Andrea. I don’t remember this happening when we tested it. Did you happen to use low fat sour cream? I’ve found it tends to separate more. Otherwise, I’d say turn off the heat and let the soup cool slightly before stirring it in next time.
The soup was delicious and easy to make. I like that the carrots, celery, onion were sautéed ahead of putting them in the crock pot.
Thanks Joni. Glad you enjoyed it!
Easy. Flavorful. Budget saver. Family friendly. Will definitely make this again
HI Heather! Lots of adjectives we love to hear around here! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
After years of making Potato Soup, this is now our favorite recipe! So easy and SO FULL of flavor!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a rating and review, Michele. So, so happy your family enjoyed it!
Thank you such an amazing crockpot soup recipe! Our family loved it!
Finding a crockpot recipe the whole family loves is such a blessing! Glad this one fits the bill for you. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
the flavor is wonderful, so hearty and rich, but the cheddar cheese seems to melt to a ‘grainy’ texture. I shredded my own, so it’s not the ‘coating’ that comes on pre-shred. Any ideas? Did I try to melt it too fast?
Hi Lois. Thanks for the feedback. It’s been a little while since I’ve made this, but I do remember having to add in the cheese slowly…a little bit at a time. And stir in a figure 8 pattern until it completely melts.
Just tested this again tonight with store-bought Kraft finely shredded cheddar. It melted great as I added a little at a time. No clumping at all. So I think the key is finely shredded.
THIS. IS. SO. GOOD. My family loved this recipe. I’ve made it several times in the last few weeks and it’s on my menu this week again. SO tasty!
Love to hear this feedback Tamara! Thank you.
Hello, was wondering if you can use another type of potato in this recipe? Thanks
Yes, you can use a russet/baking potato but just be sure to peel it first. Enjoy!
I make this soup all the time and never add the milk. But do serve it with some sour cream my family really does enjoy it .
Hi Susan! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review and let others know your experience with omitting milk. So glad your family likes it!
Is it possible to make this in the Instapot?
Yes! Use Saute function to cook the bacon and then remove. Saute the veggies. Stir in the broth, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes with a quick release. Remove bay and thyme stems. Stir in the half and half, sour cream, and cheese. Top with bacon!
Hello! My crockpot died and will I await delivery of a new one I was wondering if I could make this stovetop? Thank you!
Absolutely! Follow Steps 1-3, adding all the ingredients to the pot. Then, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are super tender and all the flavors have had time to combine. Follow Steps 5-7.
made this over the weekend for guests. It was really flavorful, and smelled so good while it was cooking!
I’m excited to make this! I’m making up a few freezer meals before the next baby arrives…
Question though – in the ‘uncooked’ freezer meal version, there’s no mention of using the sour cream. I’m assuming it would just be added in with the half and half at the end, right? I don’t trust my pregnancy brain right now haha
Yes, you will add that in at the end. I’ll try to make that clearer in the instructions. Sorry about that!
Have you tried this in the instant pot? Cook the bacon and veggies on the saute function, then switch over to pressure cook to finish before mixing in cream…I think it might be a one pot weeknight wonder 😀 any thoughts on how long to try the pressure cook portion? Thanks for a great recipe!
Yes, I have and it works well! Use Saute function to cook the bacon and then remove. Saute the veggies. Stir in the broth, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, and salt and pepper. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes with a quick release. Remove bay and thyme stems. Stir in the half and half, sour cream, and cheese. Top with bacon! It’s sooo good.
Thank you! I found your blog through the Sorta Awesome podcast and am excited to try out so many things on your website and your cookbook next Jan. Thanks for helping a busy working mom of 3 stay creative in the kitchen!
Yay!! So happy to have you here, Shannon. I sure hope you find our recipes helpful.
Would using an immersion blender make the soup too smooth? I’m wary of using my potato masher in my crockpot because I don’t want to scratch the enamel.
I’ve tested using an immersion blender and it makes it very smooth and almost baby foodish if you’re not careful. But maybe if you have a light hand, it will work. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the potato masher will affect your crock enamel. Hope that helps!